WASHINGTON (AP) Two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer is scheduled to pitch Game 3 of Washington's NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs, after Gio Gonzalez starts Game 2.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker finally announced his rotation plans, just a few hours before Game 1 against the defending World Series champions Friday night.

Scherzer's playoff debut this year was delayed because he tweaked his right hamstring in his last regular-season appearance. He had been slated to throw a bullpen session off a mound Wednesday, then Thursday, but finally did so on Friday.

Gonzalez was 15-9 with a 2.96 ERA this year. Saturday's game against Cubs lefty Jon Lester will be Gonzalez's fifth postseason start but only second at home. His other Nationals Park playoff outing came in 2012, when he was staked to a 6-0 lead in a 9-7 loss to St. Louis in the deciding Game 5 of an NLDS.

The left-hander said he had been preparing to pitch in Game 3 at Wrigley Field until he was told Wednesday to get ready for Game 2.

"Perhaps he'll get fastballs with Trea getting on base, which is important, and we know that Bryce isn't back 100 percent timing-wise," Baker said. "So you want to not have him in those key RBI situations right now. By next week or end of this five-game series, we might do something different."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon explained his choice of Schwarber this way: "It's hard to, like, string a bunch of hits together against a guy like Strasburg. So just chose power tonight, as much as anything."

The teams' NLDS rosters were released Friday morning, and John Lackey made Chicago's 25-man list. Lackey was not among the starting pitchers that Cubs manager Joe Maddon already had announced, so his status was in doubt. Lackey, a right-hander, has won three World Series titles, but he was only 12-12 with a 4.59 ERA this season for the NL Central champions.

Also in Chicago's bullpen, in a mild surprise, is left-hander Justin Wilson, who had a 5.09 ERA in 17 2/3 innings with the Cubs after arriving from the Detroit Tigers in a trade. But he also has this key career stat: Murphy is 0 for 6 against Wilson with three strikeouts.

The Cubs chose to go with two catchers instead of three, with Alex Avila backing up Contreras. They kept Rene Rivera off the roster even though he came up big down the stretch, going 15 for 44 after Chicago selected him off waivers from the New York Mets in August. Schwarber, an outfielder, could catch in a pinch.